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The more I think about it... it would make more sense to place *all* their products in Kona's "stash of anime" ... so where IS Karin's manga and anime on Kona's shelf, eh?

Minor trend development with Kona's stuff... she has a Kooh figure (from Pangya), she has Mayumi (Shuffle!) poster on the wall. Perhaps she has a special attachment for anime/manga with girls who are waifs....

I told you it would actually appear and was likely mentioned in the anime to boost sales. That issue is going to fly off the shelves. Lucky Star, Comedy Anime or Kadokawa Shopping Channel. The line is forever blurred.

You are seriously graping at straws. The image was first noticed before the show even aired. The image was available online before the show even aired. (His zomg stealth cell picture skills were for nothing. Better scans were already floating around.) This will have a very minor positive effect on sales from Lucky Star fans who want to collect the stuff. All they did was acknowledge the letter was planned and wasn't just a coincidence. (Which the lucky star article inside does too.) Since in Japan, you can pick up a magazine and read it without buying it, people who are just curious won't need to buy it or will just look at scans. The majority of people are not going to suddenly run out to buy it just to keep that one page.

I'm not aware of any actual references (but then I haven't seen Shuffle! either!), I was thinking of all the images of Shuffle stuff - posters, manga, etc. we keep seeing in Lucky Star. If I were one of Kadokawa's other authors (other than Haruhi author Nagaru Tanigawa of course) I'd be feeling pissed off by now that they weren't mentioning my story. I guess I feel for Karin author Yuna Kagesaki in particular since from her omake she strikes me as being exactly like Konata, a female otaku who's into the sort of stuff that you associate more with male otaku. Kagesaki's high school days seem to have been not unlike Konata's, she didn't spend much time studying either.

Putting in my $0.02..., YMMV
I'd love to see a Karin reference as well, but I can think of several valid reasons why they would choose to use Shuffle! here.

Whether your opinion of the Shuffle! franchise is good, bad, or indifferent, the fact is that the character designs are very recognizable - especially Sia and Nerine - and Navel has made sure to keep them in the otaku public eye. The original Shuffle! PC eroge has spawned two sequel games, one PS2 console game, one and 1/12 anime series, at least one - and I think there was a second - manga series, several figurine sets, and more posters than I even want to think about. Check out just about any anime image board - the girls are all over the place.

They are again emphasizing that Konata is not simply a female otaku, but that she has odd tastes in subject matter that are more in line with a male otaku. Shuffle! originated as an eroge, and any viewer even slightly acquainted with the franchise would be aware of that. Karin, on the other hand, is a relatively tame romantic comedy with a "twist": the vampire angle. So which would be more likely to generate a double take at the checkout counter: a girl who looks like she still ought to be in middle school buying a copy of Karin, or the same girl with a copy of Shuffle!?

Didn't Konata mention in an earlier episode that her dad played eroge on the computer while she watched? Want to bet that one of them was the original Shuffle! game?

Plus, as several people have mentioned, Konata probably feels a bond of sisterhood for Mayumi when it comes to attracting men with "special tastes". Except Mayumi is freaking tall - the same height as Mai from Kanon - so Konata would look like a hobbit standing next to her.

Anyway, let's be patient. Hopefully we will get a look at what else Konata keeps on her shelves in future episodes.

I've bought Newtype for years and always skipped the postcard section. However, I've stopped buying the magazine after getting sick of their stupid Gundam fascination. Regardless, it's a nice touch KyoAni snuck a Lucky Star postcard into the magazine as preparation for one of the episodes.

I don't see how this will make much difference in the sales of Newtype magazine, since the May issue would be quite hard to find at this time. Unless the bookstore has the shelf-space to keep copies of the previous months' issues, which they don't really, considering the variety of their stock. I've missed some of my monthly issues because I was late in picking it up, and they are all gone from all the Kinokuniya branches by the time I started hunting for them.

People who say how this will boost sales probably never have a magazine collection before.

I've bought Newtype for years and always skipped the postcard section. However, I've stopped buying the magazine after getting sick of their stupid Gundam fascination.

Quoted for irony.

As for this episode (since I apparently forgot to write about it earlier)...

This episode is one where, in my opinion, they have all the timing nailed. I complained about it a lot before, but I can't complain about it here. They're doing a great job.

The overall pacing took a turn for the odd for me, but I won't complain too much, because this show is about the small moments. When they can combine the consistent timing of this episode with the overall pacing of episode 6, they'll really have things down. It's just marvelous in the meantime, though.

One note on oddity: I think the first scene with the four girls at school is a good example of how they occasionally overdo the music cuts for effect. I think this scene would have worked better had they not dropped the music as much (or at least as abruptly).

Standout moments:
- The opening scene, just because of the tone of Konata's reaction.
- Kagami winning her event.
- Konatai's visualization.
- Determined Miyuki. I don't know why I love it. I just do.

Why am I always writing to dispute something my friend Kaioshin says? Anyway, this time it's his disdain for the person who thought Hirano Aya might have drawn the postcard in NewType.

First, that's a reasonable subject of speculation, just because it would be interesting if a seiyuu did cross over like that. Second, she does draw, as we saw with the little cat-men she festooned the SHnY site and publicity with. See this page. I myself wondered if she drew the figures of Tsukasa, Miyuki, and Kagami featured near the end of episode 7.

I came to the conclusion that she probably didn't draw them or the postcard, since those and the postcard are both at a somewhat higher level of skill than those little cat-men she drew, and she wasn't credited, but it might have been possible. She drew what I recall was a slightly better pic of Haruhi on a TV show, but I don't have a pic of that right now to compare.

And by the way, what did you mean over there on Dark Mirage that Haruka of Idolmaster Xenoglossia has a blog "in real life"? Do you mean the studio makes a blog for the character, the seiyuu makes a blog for the character, the seiyuu has a blog, Haruka has a blog in the show, or there is really a Haruka, who has a blog? Anyway, I could only stand to watch one and a bit episodes of that show, personally. I'd better watch another to see if it has come closer to my taste.

This is not to deny your main points that comments on that blog were not to the high standard of AnimeSuki, and that sometimes we may give KyoAni more credit for this kind of self-referentiality than they deserve. However, I think they deserve a lot of credit for it, myself. It's not unique to them, but they seem to do it more than anyone else, and not always flatteringly. Self-referentiality is the soul of TV, imo.

And of course, I don't object at all to cross-marketing -- although this was probably not actually that, because of the time-lag.

@Vexx's next post: I don't recall the product placement in The Truman Show. I was too busy giving it an instant place in my all-time top ten.

@Furudanuki: Excellent points on the Shuffle! reference. Whatever we think about the actual anime... .the *manga* is very popular, and the game was very popular (popular enough that some fans are working on an english patch for it). The Sia & Nerine duo are instantly recognizable.

It does establish that Kona has unusual tastes even for a femme otaku.

All of which sort of diminishes the idea that the show is purely about product placement. I still think the main focus is on *adapting the manga* (as KyoAni does with all their adaptations - they focus on the source material). Any referential material is just icing (so far). Even the most "egregious" example (the Initial D segment) --- in the manga, they don't actually *show* her driving but you see the 'betweens' and the results.

Its a murky line between cross-marketing and just using current fad items to demonstrate someone is a fan. When someone watches this 10 years from now, they may not get the references but if it doesn't interfere with enjoying the moment, its fine.

Example of bad product placement: watch the movie "The Truman Show" ... the product placement in Truman's world is hideous.

...you people need to remember that this show, besides the slice-of-life, bases a lot of its humor from sharing the misery and mental processes of an otaku. Sometimes when I hear phrases in class discussions that vaguely resemble video games, computers, or anime, I can't resist emulating the situation in my head as its respective medium, sadly noting that there is at most one other person in the room who would get the resemblance. Lucky Star perfectly associates with our mindsets and isolation in the otaku subculture, and happily shares with us jokes that outsiders won't get. It's this elitism that introduced the controversy and schism in the anime community about Lucky Star.

To do that without references to series in real life would make this series just another Genshiken with a picture perfect manga emulation. I can't imagine that being a fun series to watch.

~
Example of bad product placement: watch the movie "The Truman Show" ... the product placement in Truman's world is hideous.

You just spawned a very weird idea in my mind... bear with me here, because the idea may sound very absurd, but I am taking it seriously here.

*erm-hrm*

I present to you-

Spoiler for just being plain weird.:

- The Kaioshin Show.

Now wait. Wait! I feel that there is actually a lot of potential in writing such a parody of "The Truman Show". To summarise the plot in two sentences,

Quote:

Kaioshin lives in a land of moe and considers it to be the normal way of life until one day, a strange model kit called "Gundam", drops from the sky and several mysterious fanatics appear before him screaming, "Gainax rules! Mecha over Moe!" before mysteriously disappearing as well.

Just what is the strange truth behind this world that he lives in?

We could include things like how the National Anthem/Dance is "Hare Hare Yuki", or how each time Kaioshin gets too close to the truth, a Taiyaki-munching girl will slam into him crying out, "Uguu~!" before dragging him away to another spot.

The moon will remain the base of operations, and Haruhi will reside in there wielding her Godlike powers, while Itsuki will be Kaioshin's neighbour and "best friend".

Kyon can be the disillusioned (and not-so-deceased) father, while his wife can be any one of the various KyoAni-girls (no Konata though, since we are establishing a world of moe, not otakus).

You just spawned a very weird idea in my mind... bear with me here, because the idea may sound very absurd, but I am taking it seriously here.

*erm-hrm*

I present to you-

Spoiler for just being plain weird.:

- The Kaioshin Show.

Now wait. Wait! I feel that there is actually a lot of potential in writing such a parody of "The Truman Show". To summarise the plot in two sentences,

We could include things like how the National Anthem/Dance is "Hare Hare Yuki", or how each time Kaioshin gets too close to the truth, a Taiyaki-munching girl will slam into him crying out, "Uguu~!" before dragging him away to another spot.

The moon will remain the base of operations, and Haruhi will reside in there wielding her Godlike powers, while Itsuki will be Kaioshin's neighbour and "best friend".

Kyon can be the disillusioned (and not-so-deceased) father, while his wife can be any one of the various KyoAni-girls (no Konata though, since we are establishing a world of moe, not otakus).

The possibilities are endless.

Cheers.

That sounds almost impossibly fun, especially the part about the Uguu~ girl slamming into me. Except the national anthem would be Heroes Liberty Bell. Potential spoiler warning for the link.

Example of bad product placement: watch the movie "The Truman Show" ... the product placement in Truman's world is hideous.

Not really, since it was supposed to be a major part of the setting of the movie, (as well as a fairly clever backhand of the nature of television... although, the entire thing was pretty much one big backhand of the nature of television.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skane

You just spawned a very weird idea in my mind... bear with me here, because the idea may sound very absurd, but I am taking it seriously here.

*erm-hrm*

I present to you-

Spoiler for just being plain weird.:

- The Kaioshin Show.

Now wait. Wait! I feel that there is actually a lot of potential in writing such a parody of "The Truman Show". To summarise the plot in two sentences,

We could include things like how the National Anthem/Dance is "Hare Hare Yuki", or how each time Kaioshin gets too close to the truth, a Taiyaki-munching girl will slam into him crying out, "Uguu~!" before dragging him away to another spot.

The moon will remain the base of operations, and Haruhi will reside in there wielding her Godlike powers, while Itsuki will be Kaioshin's neighbour and "best friend".

Kyon can be the disillusioned (and not-so-deceased) father, while his wife can be any one of the various KyoAni-girls (no Konata though, since we are establishing a world of moe, not otakus).

The possibilities are endless.

Cheers.

Scary.....

Edit: On a different note, do people realize that when they get so worked up over what are essentially minor things that they're alienating the people around them, so when they do actually make worthwhile comments, no one's willing to take them seriously or consider them as carefully?

One example of blatant advertising that left a bitter taste in my mind would be "The Island" and its whole Microsoft INYOURFACE propaganda, from the "survivors" playing on a souped-up version of the X-Box to Windows-powered phone booths.

Not really, since it was supposed to be a major part of the setting of the movie, (as well as a fairly clever backhand of the nature of television... although, the entire thing was pretty much one big backhand of the nature of television.)
Scary.....

Right... should have said "intentionally hideous". My favorite (actually done in real commercials and movie product placement) is carefully holding the bottle so the brand name is directly towards the camera and uncovered. I saw a recent news article on in-series product placement that showed a clip of "Seventh Heaven" where the father talks about how he loves Oreos while munching a few. Its the sort of thing real people would say ("I love Coke. Pepsi? Ewwwww!") but it is such a funny kickback to the Golden Years when George Burns and Gracie Allen would work their sponsor's products into their sit-com.

You just spawned a very weird idea in my mind... bear with me here, because the idea may sound very absurd, but I am taking it seriously here.

*erm-hrm*

I present to you-

Spoiler for just being plain weird.:

- The Kaioshin Show.

Now wait. Wait! I feel that there is actually a lot of potential in writing such a parody of "The Truman Show". To summarise the plot in two sentences,

We could include things like how the National Anthem/Dance is "Hare Hare Yuki", or how each time Kaioshin gets too close to the truth, a Taiyaki-munching girl will slam into him crying out, "Uguu~!" before dragging him away to another spot.

The moon will remain the base of operations, and Haruhi will reside in there wielding her Godlike powers, while Itsuki will be Kaioshin's neighbour and "best friend".

Kyon can be the disillusioned (and not-so-deceased) father, while his wife can be any one of the various KyoAni-girls (no Konata though, since we are establishing a world of moe, not otakus).

The possibilities are endless.

Cheers.

Cue the "Sun", in the form of our resident Sun King - Ascaloth. (I'm sorry Ascaloth, I just couldn't resist. )

Anyway, we should steer away from talking about one user and get back on topic before we incur Pelly's wrath, again.

I find the product placement in Lucky Star to be quite tolerable, not the "in your face" type like in the Truman Show as Vexx has mentioned.

Cue the "Sun", in the form of our resident Sun King - Ascaloth. (I'm sorry Ascaloth, I just couldn't resist. )

Anyway, we should steer away from talking about one user and get back on topic before we incur Pelly's wrath, again.

I find the product placement in Lucky Star to be quite tolerable, not the "in your face" type like in the Truman Show as Vexx has mentioned.

Good idea concerning the on topicness, I'll glady second that, although my show still sounds more like heaven than anything minus a few details such as the anthem and my father. Let's leave it at that though.

Anyway, On the ads in Episode 08, I'm also kind of amused at how quickly I forgot this episodes anti-ad/otaku awareness/otaku life intervention spot where Konata was so desperate to take advantage of a sale she just heard about that she bought a manga volume she already had. Although she does almost feel like she's talking directly to the viewer when mentioning a product, kind of like Truman's Girlfriend when she had to do the product push. If I recall Kagami was there with her so it would have been funny if she pulled Konata aside and demanded to know exactly who it was she was talking to.

Cue the "Sun", in the form of our resident Sun King - Ascaloth. (I'm sorry Ascaloth, I just couldn't resist. )

Anyway, we should steer away from talking about one user and get back on topic before we incur Pelly's wrath, again.

I find the product placement in Lucky Star to be quite tolerable, not the "in your face" type like in the Truman Show as Vexx has mentioned.

I wouldn't call The Truman Show "In your face" kind of advertisment, it was pretty much in the context of its story. If you have not seen "The Island" you should watch it just to see what I meant in term of bothering "in your face" advertisement, Microsoft, Rebook, Coca Cola, you name it.